QWERTY Writing Life Podcast

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith wrap up Season 5 with a grateful and reflective look back and a huge announcement for the future of QWERTY Writing Life Podcast. You will want to catch the news and find out what's next for the QWERTYs and their friends. Check out the links referenced in the show: Joy's LAM Summer Reading Challenge: https://joyerancatore.com/summer-reading/ Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Berries, Bridges and Books Conference: https://cmwriters.wixsite.com/creativemindswriters/conference QWERTY Writing Life Season 1, Episode 21, “Allowing Faith in Your Art”: https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-jmr7a-c0a873 Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Author Joy E. Rancatore muses on the might of mindset in this special QWERTY interview with a creative. Mea Smith asks Joy clarifying and deepening questions to dive well below the surface of the topic and prompts her to share a special QWERTY challenge with listeners. Tune in to be challenged, enlightened and motivated.    Check out the links referenced in the show: Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Orna Ross' three-hat mindset: https://ornaross.com/from-orna/indie-authors-three-hats/ Interview with a Creative: Mea Smith: Creativity and Our Worth Episode Link: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/interview-with-a-creative-mea-smith-creativity-and-our-worth/YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/rkqe5Cqo_1w Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Author Mea Smith discusses her journey through determining her worth and shares epiphanies about how it connects to creativity in this special QWERTY interview with a creative. Joy E. Rancatore asks Mea foundational and process questions and prompts her to share a special QWERTY challenge with listeners. Tune in to be inspired, enlightened and uplifted.  Check out the episode about Mea's poetry book referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life, Season 2, Episode 47: “A Poetic Arc: The Birth of a Poetry Book”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/a-poetic-arc-the-birth-of-a-poetry-book/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith dispel negative emotions toward motivation in the creative life for Episode 15 in Season 5 of QWERTY Writing Life. They present a QWERTY theory about the aspects of motivation and two QWERTY-identified types of motivation. Personal examples from their recent creative lives show how they arrived at this candid chat. And, they end with ten observations about motivation and a practical implementation that flows into the QWERTY Challenge.    Check out the links referenced in the show: Mea's poetry book, Grief Like a River: https://storyswell.net/books Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Recently, authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith met with a group of writers on a college campus. One of the students asked a question that has spurred ongoing conversation between Mea and Joy … and this episode! “What is your motivation to publish? What keeps your butt in the chair to finish a project and get it out there?” Listen in as Joy and Mea share specific answers to how they achieved publication of some of their books as well as more general reasons behind why they choose to share in the first place. They close out with a short but deep QWERTY Challenge that can help you answer these questions in your creative life. Check out the links referenced in the show: Mea's poetry book, Grief Like a River: https://storyswell.net/books Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Joy's book Any Good Thing: https://joyerancatore.com/any-good-thing/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 12, “Balancing Vulnerability and Memories in Art”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/balancing-vulnerability-and-memories-in-art/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith highlight five benefits of writing across formats and genres in this episode of QWERTY Writing Life. They pull from their work and life experiences to exemplify each point and challenge listeners to add to the conversation. Check out the links referenced in the show: Joy's Summer Reading Challenge: https://joyerancatore.com/summer-reading/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Mea's poetry book, Grief Like a River: https://storyswell.net/books Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith approach a challenging topic in Season 5, Episode 12 of QWERTY Writing Life—how to balance vulnerability and memories in art. They offer five tips to avoid unhealthy bleeding out of emotions in public art while still seizing the opportunity to heal through creativity. In addition to practical tips creatives can implement, Joy and Mea share personal examples from their own books to show how they've used or are using their tips to share emotional pieces with readers. Check out the links referenced in the show: Marching North hat tutorial on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GcXlu6eLz-U?si=r1urP90_FO_dVHOl Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life Season 5, Episode 9, “What Is the Great Conversation?” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/what-is-the-great-conversation/ QWERTY Writing Life Season 5, Episode 10, “Why Care About the Great Conversation?” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/why-should-we-care-about-the-great-conversation/ QWERTY Writing Life Season 5, Episode 11, “How Do We Add to the Great Conversation?” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/how-do-we-add-to-the-great-conversation/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Dan Blank on Creative Place & Purpose podcast episode: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/interview-with-a-creative-dan-blank-on-creative-place-purpose/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Dan Blank on Creative Place & Purpose podcast episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hIvSma0YZXk Grief Like a River by Mea Smith: https://storyswell.net/books This Good Thing by Joy E. Rancatore: https://joyerancatore.com/this-good-thing/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

In Season 5, Episode 11 of QWERTY Writing Life, authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith answer the question, “How do we add to the Great Conversation?” To do that, they came up with four thoughts on the how of it all to round out this mini series on the Great Conversation. Check out the episodes and books referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Dan Blank on Creative Place & Purpose podcast episode: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/interview-with-a-creative-dan-blank-on-creative-place-purpose/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Dan Blank on Creative Place & Purpose podcast episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hIvSma0YZXk The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23526522-the-fellowship The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29008738-the-bird-and-the-sword The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11337.The_Bluest_Eye Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith dive deeper into the topic of the Great Conversation as they answer the question, “Why Care About the Great Conversation?” They share three primary “whys” and then go further in regards specifically to literature with seven benefits to that creative medium. Check out the book referenced in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith begin a few thoughts about the Great Conversation. In Episode 9 of Season 5's QWERTY Writing Life, they seek to answer the question “What is the Great Conversation?” Check out the links referenced in the show: Joy's 12 Days of Reading https://www.facebook.com/groups/twelvedaysofreading Simon Schama, The Power of Art https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19797.The_Power_of_Art Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588138.The_Hero_With_a_Thousand_Faces Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith encourage creatives to play this holiday season and jumpstart their creativity with prompts. In this episode of QWERTY Writing Life, they give five types of prompts for creatives and then share examples from their lives of how each can be used. Check out the links referenced in the show: Blog Battle: https://bbprompt.com/ Tales of the Faerie Shepherds (stories by Joy, many inspired by Blog Battle prompts): https://joyerancatore.com/my-writings/tales-of-the-faerie-shepherds/ Reedsy has a weekly writing prompt contest you can have fun with: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/contests/ FOR A BONUS PROMPT AND IMPROMPTU EXAMPLES OF HOW IT'S USED BY BOTH JOY AND MEA: Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith continue season five's extra candid format in an episode about sacrifice. They discuss people's natural aversion to the word as well as the importance of it and how it ties into a creative's life and art. As with many other introspective topics, asking “What will you sacrifice for your art?” requires a balancing act. Joy and Mea share a few of their tendencies to tip to one extreme or another and some practical steps they have taken or are taking to avoid such imbalance. Throughout the discussion, the authors weave in ways creatives can prepare themselves to answer the question, “What will you sacrifice for your art?” Check out this link referenced in the show: We Can Do Hard Things Podcast with Dr. Brené Brown, Episode 48, “How to Know Ourselves and Be Known by Our People”: https://shows.cadence13.com/podcast/wcdht/episodes/e77b5152-0180-4a59-8540-d8aa59e73c94 Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith present perhaps their most candid QWERTY Writing Life episode yet. They don't have any earth-shattering answers for the questions they pose on the topic of redefining self care. What they do have are honest reflections from their own lives and examples of how to redefine self care, specifically for the creative life. As shared in the show, this is the QWERTY Definition of Self-Care: How we care for ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually (all the ways that make us human beings) that enables us to pour into the people in our lives and into the responsibilities and opportunities we've accepted, without sacrificing personal peace (our own wholeness). Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Creative Place & Purpose with Dan Blank: https://youtu.be/hIvSma0YZXk Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Dan Blank, founder of WeGrowMedia, visits QWERTY Writing Life and chats with authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith about Creative Place and Purpose. He gives practical tips on how to take overwhelming aspects of the creative life—marketing, author platform, author purpose and mission statements, collaborations and audience—and make them manageable, approachable and even fun. Dan also explains his "human-centered approach to marketing" and shows how it plays out in the lives of authors through real-life examples. Learn more from Dan at these links: Subscribe at Substack for his weekly newsletter that is always packed with inspiration and practical steps you can take to improve your creative life: https://danblank.substack.com/ Visit his website for more on his “human-centered approach to marketing” and his consultations for authors: https://wegrowmedia.com/ Follow him on Instagram or X for daily encouragement: https://www.instagram.com/danblank and https://twitter.com/DanBlank  And, of course, get your own copy of his creative life-altering book, Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780998645216  (Note: This is Joy's affiliate link for the book on bookshop.org. Thank you for supporting Dan, Joy and independent bookstores!) Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

In Season 5, Episode 4 of QWERTY Writing Life, Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith bring back a previous question, with a twist. Where Is Your Art's Place in the Creative World? Answering where an artist fits in the creative world is one challenge that comes with easy to follow questions. Placing art, though, can be more complicated. Joy and Mea share three perspectives to ease the task and guide fellow creatives. Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 3: “Authors & Readers: Let's Get Together!”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/authors-and-readers-let-s-get-together/ Joanna Penn's interview with John Truby on The Creative Penn Podcast: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2022/11/28/anatomy-of-genre/ The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works, by John Truby: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780374539221 (This is Joy's affiliate link for the book on bookshop.org, a fantastic online bookseller that gives back to independent bookstores.) More on Carolina's Legacy Collection—”Southern fiction with Christian roots”—by Joy: https://joyerancatore.com/my-writings/carolinas-legacy-collection/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 2: “Where Is Your Place in the Creative World?”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/where-is-your-place-in-the-creative-world/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith tackle a huge topic in this episode of QWERTY Writing Life: bringing Authors and Readers together. They seek to reduce the overwhelm of the topic, though, through a set of six lessons they've learned over their years as Creatives. Check out the links referenced in the show as well as a few suggestions for fellow authors seeking to identify their ideal readers: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 1, “Calibrate Your Creative Purpose”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/calibrate-your-creative-purpose/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 2: “Where Is Your Place in the Creative World?”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/where-is-your-place-in-the-creative-world/ Suggested Resources for Identifying an Ideal Reader: Dan Blank's book, Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ Dan Blank, We Grow Media consulting: https://wegrowmedia.com/work-with-us/ Belinda Griffin, Smart Authors Lab: https://smartauthorslab.com/about-smartauthorslab/ Kimberley Grabas, Your Writer Platform: https://yourwriterplatform.com/about/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Since childhood, people ask that loaded question: “Where Do I Fit In?” Creatives still ask that question, but with a twist: “Where Is My Place in the Creative World?” Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith have asked the same question, and they've developed a three-tiered approach to help Creatives answer where they belong. In this episode, Joy and Mea provide Creatives with 11 questions to answer. These prompts cover the first two tiers of finding your place in the creative world. The third tier—connecting with the right creative audience—will be covered more thoroughly in Episode 3 of Season 5. To answer Where Is Your Place in the Creative World, decide who you are and what you want as a creative by answering these six questions: #1: What are your fundamental standards? What is your code of conduct or the set of standards that guide what and how you create? #2: Why do you have to create? #3: What do you want to create? #4: What are your goals for what you create? #5: What do you want to make people feel? #6: Envision yourself as a successful artist. Who's around you? Where are you? How are you holding that success—are you headlining conferences as a keynote speaker or touring bookstores and libraries across the country or traveling while you create? Next, look outside yourself to who you want beside you on your creative journey, by answering these five questions: Question #1: Who do you want to support? Question #2: What do you want to promote? Question #3: What support would you like? Question #4: How can you help fellow creatives? How are you willing to do this? Question #5: What safeguards can you put in place to make sure you engage wisely in ways that are best for you and them? Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 1, “Calibrate Your Creative Purpose”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/calibrate-your-creative-purpose/ Dan Blank's book, Be the Gateway: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ “Writing with Maggie Stiefvater” digital writing course: https://www.etsy.com/listing/806360184/writing-with-maggie-stiefvater-8-hour Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Writer Moms Inc. Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Writermomsinc/ Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi): https://allianceindependentauthors.org/?affid=7767 Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA): https://www.ibpa-online.org/ Rom-Com Author Sharon Peterson: https://sharonmpeterson.com/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith have been prepping for a life-changing literary submission. As part of that, they must submit an Artist's Statement. Neither of them was sure what that was, but after a bit of research, they discovered they've been crafting theirs for the past several years. Listen in as they take this discovery and share how their statements have developed organically over their time as evolving creatives. In reference to their creative purposes, Joy and Mea explain how those important foundational details have adapted over time as they've grown as authors. You will hear four practical steps to intentionally calibrate your creative purpose. The QWERTYs look forward to hearing about your implementation of these tips. Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 1, Episode 35, “Goal Planning with 2020 Vision, Part 1”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/goal-planning-with-2020-vision-part-i-template-for-goal-setting/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Dan Blank's book, Be the Gateway: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ Subscribe to Dan Blank's weekly newsletter, packed with great information and encouragement for creatives: https://wegrowmedia.com/contact-us/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith reflect on the fourth season of QWERTY Writing Life and celebrate the highlights while announcing plans for the future. Tune in for opportunities to weigh in on upcoming creative opportunities and a challenge to help you plan your next steps. Check out the book and the previous episodes referenced in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 7, “Artist as a Work in Progress”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/artist-as-a-work-in-progress/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episodes 11 and 12: “Creativity: Are You Sitting or Steeping?” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creativity-are-you-sitting-or-steeping-part-1/ https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creativity-are-you-sitting-or-steeping-part-2/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Season Four of QWERTY Writing Life has been full of productivity, surprises and lessons learned. Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith reflect on the season and the projects they have managed along the way. Tune in for thoughts on embracing the finiteness of time and the depth we add to our creative selves when we simply live life and much more. The QWERTY Challenge is geared toward helping you celebrate your creative accomplishments. Check out the book and the previous episodes referenced in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 13, “When Your Pivot Needs to Pivot”:  https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/when-your-pivot-needs-to-pivot/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 14, “Creatively Redeeming a Time Gap”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creatively-redeeming-a-time-gap/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith got together in person to complete the project they've been working on throughout Season Four. Tune in to hear how it went and what else the duo accomplished while they were together. As usual, the QWERTYs have insights and tips to share through this candid chat from their creative lives. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 14, “Creatively Redeeming a Time Gap”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creatively-redeeming-a-time-gap/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith understand what it's like to feel stuck or uncertain in the creative process. They propose we all approach our creative endeavors from a new perspective, every now and then. Tune in for six distinct creative perspectives, complete with examples from various mediums. Accept the QWERTY Challenge to share your own examples, as well as other perspectives you've utilized. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Mea's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/measmithwrites/ Every Good Thing by Joy: https://joyerancatore.com/every-good-thing/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith found themselves with an unexpected time gap in their current creative project and found a way to creatively redeem that gift. Tune in for a few tips and tricks for making the most of the gift of time in this episode of QWERTY Writing Life. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 1, “Choosing Your Next Project”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/choosing-your-next-project/ Joy's New Reader Magnet: https://joyerancatore.com/my-writings/our-good-thing/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith share some words of wisdom for fellow creatives who find themselves in need of a double pivot. Creative processes require flexibility and introspection. When creatives try something new, it may work great; other times, though, that new approach may need some alterations. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races: https://maggiestiefvater.com/novels/the-scorpio-races/ Writing with Maggie Stiefvater Seminar: https://www.etsy.com/listing/806360184/writing-with-maggie-stiefvater-8-hour QWERTY Writing Life, “Benefits of Short Fiction, Part 1”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/benefits-of-short-fiction-part-1/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith follow up their previous episode with a look at how creative habits can keep us from falling into the procrastination trap and avoid stagnant sitting. From there, they offer practical tips to enhance the steeping stage and get all we can from times of percolation. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers GOOD, Jocko Willink: https://youtu.be/IdTMDpizis8 Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith discuss the difference between sitting and steeping, creatively speaking. Creatives can commonly fall into a time of procrastination or of percolation. Often, the line between the two can be a bit blurry, and we may not always recognize which one we are doing. In episode 11 of season 4 of QWERTY Writing Life, Joy and Mea provide examples of each and leave you with two surefire ways to know which you're doing. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races: https://maggiestiefvater.com/novels/the-scorpio-races/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith continued discussion about new creative projects coming from past ones makes the perfect starting point for any creative considering a new work-in-progress. They share the top five needs a Creative should meet in order to begin a new project. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Any Good Thing and Carolina's Legacy Collection: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/carolinas-legacy-collection Grief Like A River behind-the-scenes video series: https://youtu.be/wd4YETMssRg QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 6, “How to Drop a Project”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/how-to-drop-a-project/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 1, Episode 5: “Mea's Theory of Fear”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/blockades-to-creating-part-5/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith chat about how past projects can fuel new creative works as they consider both internal and external sources for ideas. Packed full of examples, this episode includes the QWERTYs' tips and suggestions with a two-part Challenge to get creatives started. Check out the links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Any Good Thing and Carolina's Legacy Collection: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/carolinas-legacy-collection Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: https://taherehmafi.com/book/shatter-me/ Grief Like A River behind-the-scenes video series: https://youtu.be/wd4YETMssRg Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith relay a piece of repeated advice from a new perspective. Creatives' introspection benefits their work, their lives and so much more. Find out how in Season 4, Episode 8 and then go introspect yourself! Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith examine the idea of the artist as a work in progress. While Creatives' products grow and evolve over time, so do the Creators. Joy and Mea discuss some surprising benefits to this reality as well as the source of their epiphany in this episode. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers J.F. Penn's Arkane series: https://jfpenn.com/book-tag/arkane/ Marie Forleo's Instagram and quote: https://www.instagram.com/reel/ClKGswAjRCB/ Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith asked themselves a tough question for this episode, “Are we willing to drop this project, even after years of blood, sweat and tears.” Their candid answer inspired reflection and epiphanies they had to share with fellow creatives. For more about NaNoWriMo and the hosts' book, head to these links: National Novel Writing Month, AKA NaNoWriMo: https://nanowrimo.org/ Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to the QWERTY's monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith decide to break it down and hug their elephant project … one small part at a time! What projects are overwhelming you with their size today? Perhaps you can take the practical tips in this episode to hug your own gentle giant! For more about the books mentioned in the show, here are the links: Mea's book, Grief Like a River: https://storyswell.net/books Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith continue work on their joint project, despite upheaval in their personal lives. Tune in to find out the next steps they've taken and decisions they've made; plus, you'll hear a few tips for continuing a project when the wheels fall off!   If you'd like more information on previous episodes and other fun shareables mentioned in the show, here are the links: Mea's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/measmithwrites/   Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers   The Relevancy of Creative Potential, Season 4, Episode 3: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/season-four-episode-three-creative-potential/   Creativity and Motherhood, QWERTY Writing Life, Season 2, Episode 49: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creativity-and-motherhood/   Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5   Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife   Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/   Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith.   Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Author Mea Smith takes a solo journey in episode three as she dives into whether defining creative potential is helpful or harmful. The answer might surprise you! Links mentioned in this episode: Go & Tell Gals, How Do I Live Up To My Potential?  https://open.spotify.com/episode/40yjvz0Gj5pFnZtlUFo6TW?si=L5NG8HZNSiaiJw7yAkcIOw   QWERTY Writing Life, Created to Create https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/created-to-create-1568658626/   Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/   Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith.   Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Join authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith as they share a candid conversation on the next step in their chosen project, their creative journeys, and their personal lives. The following episodes pair well with this one: Choosing Your Next Project: Season 4, episode 1: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/choosing-your-next-project/ Blockades to Creating, Part 1: Season 1, Episode 1: https://youtu.be/OLv1RYkGQ-0 Blockades to Creating, Part 2: Season 1, Episode 2: https://youtu.be/jc5aqcT1rcg  Blockades to Creating, Part 3: Season 1, Episode 3: https://youtu.be/vfOb5cddZsQ  Blockades to Creating, Part 4: Season 1, Episode 4: https://youtu.be/Im_OTfy_opk  Blockades to Creating, Part 5: Season 1, Episode 5: https://youtu.be/lFcDw4i5Eew Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5   Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife   Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/   Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith.   Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Season 4 of QWERTY Writing Life kicks off with a productive bang, as authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith share their approach to choosing the next QWERTY project. Listen in as they recap their challenges, epiphanies, lessons learned and best tips for working together on choosing their next collaborative project. If you'd like more information on episodes or products mentioned in the show, here are the links: Fundamental Standards for Creatives, Season 3, Episode 17: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Alphasmart Neo 2—you have to buy this used, but here is a review we thought would be helpful: https://www.inputmag.com/reviews/the-alphasmart-neo-2-is-the-best-distraction-free-writing-tool-you-can-buy-right-now FreeWrite: https://getfreewrite.com/ Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith reflect on their third season of QWERTY Writing Life and share your favorite episodes and theirs. They also share what the winds of change are blowing in for QWERTY Writing Life. Tune in for a peek at what's coming! If you'd like to listen to the episodes we mentioned in the show for the first … or fifteenth! … time, here are the links: QWERTY Workshop: Starting a Story Together: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/qwerty-workshop-starting-a-story-together/ Realistic Creatives: Who They Are: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/realistic-creatives-who-they-are/ Productivity and Efficiency for Creatives: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/productivity-and-efficiency-for-creatives/ Realistic Creatives: How to be One: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/realistic-creatives-how-to-be-one/ Creative Hacks: Efficiency for Craft: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-hacks-efficiency-for-craft/ Creative Hacks: Efficiency for Outlying Factors: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-hacks-efficiency-for-outlying-factors/ Creative Hacks: Efficiency for Time: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-hacks-efficiency-for-time/ Creative Trust: Trusting Yourself in Creative Endeavors https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-trust-trusting-yourself-in-creative-endeavors/ A Creative Approach to Beginnings: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/a-creative-approach-to-beginnings/ Subscribe to our monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith answer the question, What's Saving Our Creative Lives? Their answers come coated in candor and practicality. Send them a message with your answers as well, and they might just read them on a future episode! To learn more about the episode's inspiration and the tools mentioned, visit the following links: The Next Right Thing Podcast: Emily P. Freeman: https://emilypfreeman.com/podcast/222/ Aqua Notes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A3VJ7UK Gold Bond Crepe Corrector Lotion: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YQX3SKH Creative Trinity: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/caring-for-your-creative-trinity/ Remarkable: https://remarkable.com/ Subscribe for monthly QWERTY updates, delivered straight to your inbox: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Creatives tend to spend much of their valuable time “Waiting on the Muse.” Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith debunk some misconceptions and encourage fellow Creatives to journey with the Muse in mind. Listen to Season 3, Episode 20, Creative Trust: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-trust-trusting-yourself-in-creative-endeavors/ Continue the conversation and stay in the know for all things QWERTY—subscribe to their monthly newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Creatives often discuss fear, but Fear of Success isn't always up for discussion. The Fear of Success can cripple a Creative. It can render us incapable of producing creative works. It can trick us into not even trying. It can stifle our voice and convince us of every misbelief in the book that keeps us from reaching our full potential as creative entrepreneurs.  Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith take a stand against this monster and share their experiences, along with a few tips that have helped them create beyond the fear. If this topic resonates with you, these previous episodes offer more weapons for your arsenal against fear of all kinds: Creative Trust: Trusting Yourself in Creative Endeavors, Season 3, Episode 20: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creative-trust-trusting-yourself-in-creative-endeavors/ Fundamental Standards for Creatives, Season 3, Episode 17: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Mea's Theory of Fear: Season 1, Episode 5: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/blockades-to-creating-part-5/ Here is the link for another mention in the show: Emily Freeman and The Next Right Thing Podcast: https://emilypfreeman.com/podcast/ Continue the conversation and stay in the know for all things QWERTY—subscribe to their monthly newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Do you struggle with trusting yourself when it comes to your creative pursuits? Do you doubt your abilities or count your work's worth short? Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith have been there, too. Tune in to this episode for a candid chat on the dangers of lacking creative trust and some of the misbeliefs that lead to such a mindset. Joy and Mea also share a few tips for how they overcome their self distrust. Check out links for mentions from this episode: Anna Bright, author of Beholder and Boundless: https://www.annabrightbooks.com/ Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology and promoter of Future Authoring: https://www.selfauthoring.com/future-authoring Continue the conversation and stay in the know for all things QWERTY—subscribe to the monthly newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5. Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

How can creatives be prepared at all times for interactions with influencers or consumers of their art? Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith suggest Creative Kits. Investing time and resources into preparing these items—either hard copy or digital or both—allows creatives the freedom to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way. In this episode, learn more about what these kits are, what they might include, how to put them together, where to house them and what tips Joy and Mea have to make your kits the best they can be. How about some inspiration for your kits? Check out these links mentioned in the show: Amy Harmon Book Club Kits: https://www.authoramyharmon.com/book-club-kits.html Lisa See Book Club Kits: https://www.lisasee.com/about-lisa-see/book-clubs/ QWERTY Writing Life Media Kit: https://qwertywritinglife.com/contact Joy's Media Kit Page: https://joyerancatore.com/media-kit/ Joy's Book Club Page (with Book Club Kit access): https://joyerancatore.com/book-clubs/ For more from the QWERTYs, subscribe to their monthly newsletter:  https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Business owners consider Focus one of the top tools of their trade, regardless of the type of work they do. Creative Business Owners are no different; in fact, as authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith share in this episode, Focus is an ever-changing constant for them. With each new season, they must reevaluate their Focus and determine how to achieve the goals that are most vital to their creativity and business at that time. Follow these links to dig deeper into the topic: Dan Blank's website with more information about Creative Clarity Cards and Finding Your Ideal Reader: https://wegrowmedia.com/ Dan Blank, The Creative Shift Podcast, “Start the Year with Creative Clarity” (creative clarity cards): https://wegrowmedia.com/start-the-year-with-creative-clarity-podcast/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 3, Episode 17: “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 1, Episodes 10-12: “Benefits of Short Fiction” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/benefits-of-short-fiction-part-1/ Mea's books:  Grief Like a River (poetry): https://storyswell.net/books Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner (nonfiction): https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Writing with Maggie Stievfater Course: https://www.etsy.com/listing/806360184/writing-with-maggie-stiefvater-8-hour For more from the QWERTYs, subscribe to their monthly newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at https://joyerancatore.com/links/.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith explore the importance of Fundamental Standards for Creatives. These core values or beliefs can be used as a tool to guide reactions to readers, publishers and reviewers or to influence business decisions. Listen in for definitions of Fundamental Standards and Touchstone Affirmations, examples from the authors' own businesses and four action steps to turn this concept into practical use. If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter, click this link: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

You want to collaborate with a partner to produce something big—maybe a book? In this episode, authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith bring you some tips that have helped them launch a nonfiction book, a podcast and a brand together. In keeping with their candid style, Joy and Mea keep this topic real and raw and fun. Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers If you'd like to subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter, click this link: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith view a new year through a different lens. Join them for A Creative Approach to Beginnings. The key to approaching something new with lessons in tow might rest in spending a few extra moments with past failures or suffering. Learn more about Abigail Dodds and her book, (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole and Called in Christ, at her website: https://hopeandstay.com. Find out more about Mea's book, Grief Like a River, including where to get your own copy, on her website: https://storyswell.net/books.  If you want a free copy of the goals PDF mentioned at the beginning of the episode, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith take inspiration from the Writing with Maggie Stiefvater seminar and put their QWERTY twist on an exercise for a special workshop—Starting a Story Together. Tune in for some tips on how to collaborate with a creative friend on a new type of project. How could a creative team-up boost your personal projects or pave the way for new opportunities in the future? If you're a writer, check out the highly recommended Writing with Maggie Stiefvater Course: https://www.etsy.com/listing/806360184/writing-with-maggie-stiefvater-8-hour If you want to stay in the QWERTY know and help influence future episodes, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

In this episode of QWERTY Writing Life, authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith consider the topic “Filling the Creative Well” from a different perspective. They examine how consuming entertainment, for the creative, is a deeper pastime. Creative stimulation continues with the reflection afterward. With this combination of consuming entertainment with a creative spirit and a reflection on what it has given comes the incorporation of these new thoughts and ideas into personal creativity. Check out some of Mea and Joy's inspiration: Alexandra Bracken: https://www.instagram.com/alexbracken/ Black Panther: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/ Shang Chi: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9376612/ The Hating Game by Sally Thorne: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25883848 The Hating Game movie: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8718158/ A Mouthful of Air podcast: https://amouthfulofair.fm Mary Poppins: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0058331/ Mary Poppins Returns: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5028340/ Saving Mr. Banks: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2140373/ Magnolia Network, home of some of Joy's favorite shows, “Fixer Upper,” “The Cabin Chronicles” and “Self Employed”: https://magnolia.com/network/ If you want to stay in the know and help influence future episodes, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith give thanks for the “little things.” Listen in to their candid chat about how the holidays often cause us to put on blinders to the good things around us. Those blinders keep our focus locked on to whatever big emotions we are feeling and how those feels are affecting us. When we recognize the blinders for what they are and cast them aside, we can finally notice the “little things”—flowers, a breeze, the sunlight through the trees. Soon, these “little” things grow huge as they swell our gratitude. Living with a grateful heart allows us to approach the holidays without blinders and with a boost to our creativity. If you're looking for some gifts that give back, check out Sseko Fellow Laura Kee's shopping page: https://ssekodesigns.com/laura If you want to stay in the know and help influence future episodes, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

Bingeing craft techniques allows Creatives to immerse themselves in learning or inspiration, but it's not always possible in traditional ways. Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith color outside the lines with a few unusual ways to accomplish this feat. They split bingeing into three categories and give examples of each from their own lives. Creatives can binge their craft through creative instruction, practice and consumption. As the co-hosts discuss, it's important to explore all three to maintain a balanced creative life. Visit the following links for recommendations from the show: Writing with Maggie Stiefvater Course Merriam-Webster Word of the Day Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Day NaNoWriMo If you want to stay in the know and help influence future episodes, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

To close out this three-part series on Realistic Creatives, authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith recap what they've learned and shared so far in order to answer one final practical question: “How can we alter our mindset to be a Realistic Creative … without wrecking our Dreamer status?” Listen in to a previous episode mentioned in this show: Season 1, Episode 35, Goal Planning with 2020 Vision, Part 1 If you want to stay in the know and help influence future episodes, subscribe to the monthly QWERTY Writing Life newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week's chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about us, the show and our writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you'd rather see our grinning faces, ring the bell on our YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.